St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Everest's thinning glaciers : implications for tourism and mountaineering

Thumbnail
View/Open
Watson_2018_GT_Everest_s_CC.pdf (5.041Mb)
Date
19/01/2018
Author
Watson, C. Scott
King, Owen
Keywords
QE Geology
Earth-Surface Processes
Geology
Palaeontology
Stratigraphy
Metadata
Show full item record
Altmetrics Handle Statistics
Altmetrics DOI Statistics
Abstract
Glacier mass loss in the Everest region of Nepal is accelerating in response to a warming climate, which is a trend observed across the central and eastern Himalaya. Thinning glaciers and the development of supraglacial (surface) ponds and large glacial lakes will increasingly restrict access to glacier surfaces and will affect popular trekking routes and mountaineering activities in the region. Through quantifying glacier accessibility and supraglacial pond expansion, we estimate that the Kongma La Pass trail across the Khumbu Glacier is likely to be impassable by 2020 due to supraglacial pond expansion and glacier thinning, and will require significant re-routing. An estimated 197 649 227 m3 of ice melted over the period 1984–2015 on the Khumbu Glacier. Additionally, expert opinion from Everest mountaineers suggest that rockfall activity is likely to increase in the high-mountain environment as snow and ice melts from mountain slopes, requiring changes to climbing routes on the world's highest peaks. Similarly, route difficulty will be affected by changing monsoon precipitation patterns, which determines windows of opportunity for ascents, and the distribution and quantity of snowfall. We conclude that increased collaboration between the scientific, local, and mountaineering communities offers mutual benefits for data collection and dissemination, and we identify key areas that should be investigated further.
Citation
Watson , C S & King , O 2018 , ' Everest's thinning glaciers : implications for tourism and mountaineering ' Geology Today , vol. 34 , no. 1 , pp. 18-25 . https://doi.org/10.1111/gto.12215
Publication
Geology Today
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/gto.12215
ISSN
0266-6979
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Geologists' Association & The Geological Society of London. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Description
C.S.W acknowledges support: the Mount Everest Foundation, the British Society for Geomorphology, the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), the Petzl Foundation, and water@leeds. O.K. is a recipient of a NERC DTP PhD studentship.
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/19010

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter